Stamp duty switch puts brake on house prices

The “sweet spot” is to find a property for between £1,000,001 and £1,124,999

House prices in prime central London dipped in December as property owners grappled with the chancellor’s shake-up in stamp duty, which sharply increased the tax paid on buying luxury homes.

The average cost of a home in London’s most exclusive boroughs fell by 0.1 per cent in December, after a 0.2 per cent decrease in November, pushing annual growth down to 5.1 per cent, according to Knight Frank, theestate agent.

Tom Bill, head of residential research at Knight Frank, said that this month’s price drop showed that the market had begun to absorb stamp duty changes and in some instances prices had moderated slightly to reflect the new charges. “Following a spike in transactions before the new system came into effect at midnight on December…

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